Bradford West Gwillimbury taxpayers could save about $1.8 million a year and gain immediate access to an array of special units if the town switches to the OPP, council was told Monday.
The scenario would see BWG disband its portion of South Simcoe Police and team up with the Nottawasaga OPP detachment, provincial police officials said.
Much of the savings in the $5.6-million annual budget would come from sharing command staff and resources with Essa, Adjala/Tosorontio and New Tecumseth.
BWG would pay less than one-third of the detachment commander’s salary and would require one full-time staff-sargeant and four supervisory sergeants. BWG would be policed by 30 constables under the proposal.
“We would offer jobs to 30 officers in your police service so you would likely have many of the same officers on the street that you have now,” said OPP Sgt. Steve Haennel of the Municipal Policing Bureau.
BWG council requested an OPP costing last March. Innisfil and BWG, which share South Simcoe Police, were poised to request a joint OPP costing, but went their separate ways last July.
Innisfil has yet to request its own costing.
During Monday’s meeting, BWG councillors asked if the OPP would provide as much front-line policing as the town now receives through South Simcoe Police.
“You would usually have five constables in cruisers and one sergeant per shift,” Sgt. Haennel said. “I can’t say that it’s exactly the same as South Simcoe.”
Nottawasaga detachment commander Inspt. Dirk Cockburn added there could be as many as nine OPP officers working a shift in BWG at one time.
“It’s not just about front-line deployment,” he said.
Council was told the OPP costing comes with some caveats, including a $536,000 one-time start up cost and some alterations to the South Simcoe headquarters on Melbourne Drive. Council also heard OPP officers are expected to receive about an 8.5-per-cent salary hike in their next contract in 2014.
The OPP would likely be able to use much of South Simcoe’s equipment but would bring their own cruisers since South Simcoe leases its police cars, council was told.
“Because of our size, we enjoy tremendous economies of scale,” Sgt. Haennel said.
Some councillors were concerned about the OPP practice of pulling officers from a municipality if they were needed elsewhere.
But Inspt. Cockburn assured them he would ensure a minimum standard of service if officers assigned to BWG were seconded to another municipality.
“I still have a job to do to make sure our area is not hurting,” he said. “I’m not just thinking about the contract (with the municipality), I’m thinking about community satisfaction and making sure we are working in a safe and cost-effective manner. If I had to bring an officer in on overtime, I would. But you wouldn’t be expected to pay for that overtime.”
The town council chambers were filled for Monday’s presentation, but most of the onlookers were South Simcoe Police officers, civilian police staff and Innisfil councillors and staff.
BWG would see a no-cost benefit from a wide array of OPP equipment including a helicopter if it opted for the provincial force, Sgt. Haennel said.
“The OPP has a $1-billion budget, one-third of which comes through municipalities,” he said. “We have 10,000 employees and we have the ability to mobilize people very quickly.”
Inspt. Cockburn said he has never gone over-budget since the Nottawasaga contract came into play in 1999 and an independent poll gave the district a 92-per-cent satisfaction rate.
“We’re not in the business of estimating low, then shocking the municipalities with a big bill at the end of the year,” Sgt. Haennel added.
Several councillors said they would send written questions to the OPP, which will be answered at another meeting in about two weeks.
Mayor Doug White said council will take some time to digest the information before calling a vote on the issue.
“We will be meeting again in a couple of weeks, but we won’t be making a decision then either,” the mayor said.